We have a den of yotes about 100 feet from the melon match. This year has been a lot less of whatever walks on all fours - minus the deer of course.
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I"ve heard that they, too, will chow down on melons
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The yotes? They take a bite once or twice then don’t seem to care for them. Other food sources I figure are more palatable and more readily available for them nearby, such as the many baby rabbits hopping around rather clumsily. The deer don’t seem to care for the melons, they for whatever reason take a bite out of the watermelon. We have plenty of crabapples and apples on the property that by the end of August they don’t bother the melons. They rather have the apples.
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I salvaged two that they missed - almost overripe.
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I just realized that the picture I thought was Ha’ogen is actually PGdR.
It’s from a row where I planted two weeks later than the others so the melons developed smaller.
I just sent samples of Ha’ogen, PGdR, Kiku, and White Wonder off to @IL847. She can tell you how it tastes. 
If I could send samples over the internet, I would offer you a slice as well.
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Thanjs Justpeachy for sharing some of your melons with me , The water melon is tender and crispy. Very thin rinds, i almost eat the skin all together. First time i I have white watermelon. Not bad at all.
The haogen melon is very sweet, but only near the center，if left it on the vine ripping few more day , the rest may be sweeter and softener.
I love the taste and texture of the PGdR, really sweet, nice soft , creamy texture. One of the best I ever tasted.
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The Ha’ogen I gave you was slightly a week or so before full ripeness. The recent rain got to it, and burst it, so I had to choice but to pick it. But you get the idea of the taste.
I gave you White Wonder. White Sugar Lump is better imo, but we already went through all of those.
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Thank you very much. First off, a little background information about myself. I am from Malaysia, climate wise USDA Zone 14a (?).
It was Amy Goldman’s descriptions that " This melon gives me the chills " and also "You will blink your eyes with disbelief when you sample its sweetness, which is more like brown sugar than white. It will melt on your tongue, and your mouth will water for more " that made me buy the seeds from Baker Creek. There are other sources for these seeds, but some will not ship to Malaysia directly.
It was only through your message that I heard that it was " the champagne of French cantaloupes ".
It was the only type of french cantaloupe seed that I bought, so I guess I will continue with that until I succeed or run out of seeds.
Growing it wasn’t that bad until the insect Aulacophora Foveicollis started laying eggs in the soil near the stems, when the eggs hatched the larvae burrowed into the stems, that was it. Overnight the plant wilted and a slow painful death ensued. Autopsy of the stems found a few larvae burrowing inside.
Maybe I will try dousing the soil with diatomaceous earth among other organic preventative measures
that I will take, if it works, I will let you know. This insect, among others, do eat the leaves, but the damage done there is not so great.
Thank you very much for your internet slice offer, it looks great !
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Amy Goldman calls PGdR the “champagne of French melons” on page 17. It’s not on its entry page 38. I find it to be one of the more temperamental melons to grow. Technically, I mean… sure it grows easily. It dies just as easily… Getting to ripe is a real chore. If it’s not the bugs, it’s the rain, or humidity, or some 4-legged animal, etc…
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I do not have Amy Goldman’s book, Googled it and this came up.
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I bought the book mostly as a reference point for Brix readings. I ended up slowly trying a good deal of the melons mentioned in the book.
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@thecityman/Kevin,
Picked this Crimson Sweet on 10/6. Cut it up today. Considering Oct watermelons in zone 6a, I am happy with this one. Sweet enough but not the CS sweetness standard. Brix was 10. It had firm texture. Fun to eat.
In fact, I picked 4 watermelons that day. Ate 2 and both were good.
I picked the rest of my watermelons yesterday, 10/27. Not sure if this last batch will be any good.
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Should someone start a Watermelon & Melon Growing thread 2020 now?
Last year I tried a yellow watermelon seedling from Lowes, just for fun. It fruited, but got only one, 20lb. The other ones did not ripe in time. Soil here is heavy clay, so I did not expect it would grow well, but it did. So this year I am trying to grow Sugar Baby and Black Diamond from seeds. They are short season ones. I hope they can finish the ripening process in time. They are the only short season ones that I can find at the local home depot. I also saw Allsweet, Congo, Crimson Sweet, Garden Leader Monster, but they take longer to ripe.
I have a few questions and hope someone could help me please:
- How far ahead should I plant the seeds indoors, so that they are ready for transplant on 5/10 (the average last frost day here)?
Edit: found the answer. 4weeks before the last frost day. So I should plant the seeds around 4/10. - The seed packet says “days to harvest 75”. Is it the numbers of days between planting the seeds and harvesting the first watermelon?
- Crimson Sweet appears to be a popular one, but will it ripe in time where I live, Fairfax VA zone 7?
Thanks!
Here is my Petite Gris de Rennes, no treatment needed other than a very early start in the house, and a black plastic mulch to keep the ground heated. I found it to be highly productive, 3 plants and well over 20 eatable melons.
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I managed to get Orangeglo to ripen in my zone and they both have a 85 day harvest date.
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Wow. Are you really in zone 2? What did you do to make it happen? I’d love to learn.
I read everything I could on this forum that was posted by some of, what I consider, the greatest watermelon growers. There is a watermelon growing thread that is a joy to read and full of all the methods needed, and great varieties to try. Watermelon Growing
I did what they suggested and added my own twist in starting those plants very, very early. I mean very early, mine are started now and will not go out until June. I do this for two reasons:
1- most often I lose some of the plants, last year I started them later than usual but lost some of the first seeded ones and that set me waaaaay back, too late to start again. So I start some early and seed one plant every week after.
2- I like to get the plant into at least a 1/2 gal to 1 gal. pot and have it blooming when it gets planted in the ground. This way if the plant is set back it is no big deal.
I grafted a couple Orengeglol and they produced fruit earlier, but the ones not grafted also produced fruit albeit, much later. I also put a couple in the greenhouse and found that I had problems with bugs etc., and the ones in the garden also produced, again, later, but they did ripen.
If you search this site you can also find that there are great Watermelon growing threads for each year.
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Thanks for sharing!
I like the strategy of planting seeds one week apart. I will do the same.
I read the watermelon thread as well but it stopped in Aug 2018. That’s why I asked the questions here. I am newbie in growing watermelons. Maybe some guru will start watermelon 2020 thread soon. Look forward to a new growing season.
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The 2020 thread has already started, if you go to the General Gardening title the watermelon growing has continued with 2018 ,2019 seems to be on the General Fruit Growing thread, 2020 is on the General Gardening thread, slightly complicated I know LOL.
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Tom,
Did your Mini Love have a crisp texture? Did the vine produce more than one watermelon?
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